The Gift Of These Powers
by Sora.Auditore1
Summary: Cole Macgrath reflects on the events that have passed in Empire City since he discovered his powers, and what the future has in store for him. One-shot/short-fic. Takes place not too shortly after the Good ending of InFAMOUS 1.


Timeline: Not too shortly after the Good Ending of InFAMOUS 1

One-shot/short-fic.

**I hope you guys enjoy this one! I recently re-watched the good ending for the first InFAMOUS game and I thought I should write about what was probably going through Cole's mind at that time. Cole is my favourite character from the InFAMOUS franchise, so it felt appropriate for me to try and capture his thoughts to the best of my ability. Hopefully I did a good job. **

**Please do review this, I'd like to hear what you thought about this short fanfic. Enjoy!**

It was almost evening in Empire City. Cole Macgrath paced the streets of the Neon District, finally free to bask in his thoughts after helping the cops in the area nab a couple dozen Reapers. Thanks to him, crime in Empire City had been significantly reduced, although not eliminated.

People in the streets were staring in awe and snapping pictures of him when they saw him roaming around. Some of them even addressed him with positive remarks.

"Hey Cole!"

"You're the best man!"

"You give us hope Cole!"

"We're glad you're here!"

_Do any of these people realize what a burden these powers can be? _Cole thought to himself. _I doubt they fully understand, but then again, I don't expect them too. After all, I'm the one with powers, not them._

It felt nice to be appreciated by them, really nice. Especially considering the hell he had been through lately. It gave him the strength to keep fighting, to continue protecting the city from the Reapers, the Dust Men and the First Sons, if there were even any First Sons still operating in the city. It had been two days since he defeated Kessler, and he hadn't seen them causing any local trouble since then.

_Kessler…I hate everything about him, all the pain he's caused me and God knows how many other people._

But at least Kessler was dead now, and the Ray Sphere was destroyed. Neither of them were a threat anymore, but as far as he knew Sasha and Alden were still out there, causing havoc in one way or another. He could deny it all he wanted, but the idea that those two were still in the city, out for his head…that scared him a lot.

_Yeah I'm afraid, even Cole Macgrath the mighty Electric Man feels afraid. Sometimes I wonder how I'm still alive. With pretty much every conflict I've gotten into ever since I gained control of my powers, I've put my life on the damn line. How many close calls have I had by now? How many times have I worried that I'd die?_

It may appear easy from everyone else's point of view, but Cole knew damn well that it was anything but that. Any more than one wrong move could result in death, and any other Conduits in the city were fighting against him rather than with him. Easy? No...Dangerous and nerve-racking? Hell yeah…

_It'd be nice to have a Conduit side-kick by my side. Heh, I remember joking about that with Zeke-._

Zeke…his best friend, the one person he could always depend on, or so he thought. Zeke had always been loyal, always wanted to help, but Kessler had tempted him, and he fell for it.

_Why did you have to run off with him Zeke?! How could you have been so selfish? Thousands could have died!_

The anger surged through him, but he climbed the nearest building, rail-grinding from rooftop to rooftop in order to cool off. Dwelling on it and getting pissed off about it wasn't going to change a damn thing. Zeke screwed up big time, but he had saved Cole's life during the fight with Kessler. Deep down, he did want to patch things up between him and Zeke, but he already knew that wasn't happening anytime soon.

_If Zeke hadn't shown up and started shooting at Kessler, I might have died. He risked his own life to save mine, I can't deny that. But it doesn't fix things between us; it doesn't fix the consequences of his actions. Will things ever be the same between us again? Ever since Trish died-_

Trish…it still hurt to think about her, about the last time he ever held her in his arms.

_I'm sorry…I'm so sorry Trish, I tried to save you! All the people I've saved, protected, and I couldn't do a damn thing to save you! _

Six doctors or Trish, that was Kessler's "final test" for him. To see whether he would choose to save the doctors for the greater good, or choose to save Trish for his own selfish needs. It was the hardest choice he had ever made, but he knew he made the right choice, saving the doctors.

Tears began to form in his eyes as his last memory of her flashed in his mind. His hands struggled to reach her, finally catching up to her right when she hit the pavement. For a second she sprung to life. Just long enough to say that she was proud of him for what he had become, proud that he was helping people with his powers, and that she loved him for it. Then she died…

Choosing to save those doctors, it was the right thing to do; it was what Trish wanted him to do, of that he had no doubt.

Cole finally stopped running across the rooftops and found a place to relax for a while. The whole other side of the city was visible from where he was, along with what was once a bridge, destroyed by Alden. Once again he let his thoughts flow freely.

_I thought this would be the end. That once Kessler and the Ray Sphere were gone, my life would go back to normal. But now I understand that this is my life, that there's no going back, that the "gift" of these powers will be my burden until the day I die. _

He looked up at the cloudy blue sky and back down at the people walking around the city, some of whom were admiring posters of him, which were posted up in several areas of the city. He was just like those people once…no powers, and no responsibilities that came with them.

_The people around here, they love me. How long will that last? What's going to happen the first time they expect me to be there for them and I'm not? _

One day he would have to fight the Beast that Kessler's memories had revealed to him, whoever or whatever it was supposed to be. Was he even ready for that battle? He hoped that it wasn't a battle that he would have to face on his own, but regardless, that was a possibility.

_I don't even know who to trust. Moya is still running around, planning God-knows-what. And Zeke…I don't know what to think. _

As Cole stared at the city…his city, from his high reaching spot, he realized that of all the thoughts and concerns running through his mind, the only thing that he knew with absolute certainty was that he currently had nobody else that he could depend on. Only time would reveal if he would ever have that again.

_ I've never been more alone._


End file.
